”I, Daniel Blake’ One Of The Most Underrated Films’

A highly regarded name in the ad world, Bombay-bred Milind Dhaimade turned director last year with Tu Hai Mera Sunday. The critically-acclaimed indie feature premiered at the London Film Festival 2016 and resonated strongly with the audiences locally and globally. The film made it to Flickside’s ‘9 must watch indie films of 2017’ list. Today at Flick inSide, the adman-turned-filmmaker talks about the films and filmmakers that have had a strong influence on his work and life.

I think anyone will tell you how difficult it is to talk about one film or one film-maker that has inspired them. The movies you like over time are like milestones of your own growth as a human being.

My family tells me the first movie they took me to as a child, I bawled like a baby and they had to leave the theater.

Amongst all the filmmakers and movies that I love, three distinctly stand out for me. The Coen brothers, Mike Leigh and Satyajit Ray. I don’t think I need to tell anyone why they’re great but from my perspective, all three of them really etch out amazing characters, have a unique outlook towards humanity and over time, have displayed a fierce integrity in their narrative.

By the way, one rarely ever talked about the film of Ray, which blew me away. Aranyer Din Ratri (1970). Watch it. It’s surprisingly contemporary. Like you could recreate it frame by frame and it would still be relevant.

One movie that has had a great impact on me in the last few years is I, Daniel Blake (2016). I saw it in a flight. And immediately after, I saw it all over again with my wife. I can’t remember the last time a movie had me so effing pissed off, shaken up and in tears. Again, for me, subjects about everyday people hold a great deal of attraction. It takes incredible courage to take on stories that are about struggles of ordinary people and yet crafted in an extraordinary engaging manner.

For me, it’s one of the most underrated films of its times. But movies about common folks mostly always are. The mainstream finds them arduous and the intellectuals cannot see anything exotic in them.

By Milind Dhaimade

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